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Dick Swindler wrote: > > The latest issue (Jan. '97) of Discover Magazine has the latest I've read on > the issue of smoking and Parkinson's disease. The quote is short, so I'll > include it all here: > > This is Your Brain on Smoke (title). Over the past few years, several > studies have found that people who smoke have about half the risk that > nonsmokers have of developing Parkinson's disease. Last February researchers > reported a possible reason for this strange link: an enzyme called monoamine > oxidase B (MAO B). MAO B is one of the enzymes involved in breaking down the > neurotransmitter dopamine, which the brain uses when it creates and controls > movement. Because people with Parkinson's have unusually low levels of > dopamine, they suffer from uncontrollable tremors, rigid muscles, and > difficulty walking and talking. > Chemist Joanna Fowler and her colleagues at Brookhaven National > Laboratory in Upton, New York, PET-scanned the brains of eight smokers, eight > non-smokers, and four former smokers. They found that MAO B levels in the > smokers' brains were 40 percent lower than in the other two groups. If you > have less MAO B, the researchers speculate, then you"ll have more available > dopamine and be less prone to Parkinson's--indeed, some of the best drugs > used against the disease work by inhibiting MAO B. What's the ingredient in > cigarette smoke that does the job? The researchers only know that it's not > nicotine. > > Thought everyone might be interested in this. Margie Swindler > Lawrence, Ks Hy! IMHO the sampling universe of only 8 seems quite low...to be conclusive. +----| Joao Paulo de Carvalho |------ + | [log in to unmask] | +--------| Salvador-Bahia-Brazil |------+